Premium tyre manufacturer Hankook has appointed Mr. Han-Jun Kim (52) as Chief Operation Officer for Europe and the CIS markets and Head of European Headquarters effective January 1, 2018. Kim joined the company in 2011 and most recently served as senior vice president of Corporate Management at Hankook Tire’s Global Headquarters in Seoul, Korea. While gaining many years of international management experience with renowned companies, his vita shows a strong background in the automobile sector as well, having held various management positions with Germany-based MAN Truck & Bus Group for almost nine years before joining Hankook.
Han-Jun Kim will succeed Ho-Youl Pae (60), who over the past four years has significantly strengthened the Hankook brand in Europe, among others through the establishment of the third expansion phase of a state-of-the-art tyre production in Hungary and the opening of the company’s own winter tyre testing facility in the Lapland region of Finland. At the beginning of the New Year, Pae will take on new responsibilities at Hankook Tire’s global headquarters in South Korea.
“Hankook has developed strongly in this region especially over the last decade and taken a holistic approach to tyre development and production in Europe. Today, leading European premium automobile brands rely on the quality and performance of our products for their original equipment,” said Han-Jun Kim. “The challenge in the coming years is to further grow our brand awareness, brand presence and image in Europe to help to achieve our global goal of establishing Hankook as a global premium brand as well as placing our company among the leading global tyre companies in the midterm. Thus we have to constantly inform motorists about our innovative, high-performance products throughout our entire region,” Kim continued.